Hello to all sessioneers who made it to Kilrush for the Mrs Crotty weekend, especially Big Dave and Murfbox. Some great tunes and great sessions. The Saturday night in Buggles will stay with me for a long time. Same again next year, God willing ?
Niall, I was in Buggles the Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Memorable musical experiences - especially Saturday. Saturday in Buggles was also notable in that getting from the musicians' area through to the bar or loo proved to be a major logistical exercise!
I was the middle-aged fiddle player with glasses in the vicinity of Bigdave and Murfbox, probably sitting between them. David (screen-name) was there playing the mandolin most of the time. Were you sitting close to the fireplace near the bar area?
First time I've been to Kilrush - and it certainly won't be the last. My wife was there for the set dancing in the square (the rain held off every day for the dancing), and she's still talking about it. I got to 7 sessions in five days (about 20 hours or so), and it's all still going through my head. We stayed on for a couple of days for sight-seeing (including the wonderful Scattery Island - there's a slide with that name, btw), and visiting friends from Bristol now living in Kilrush.
It's fair to say the sessions in Kilrush were the first "real" sessions I've been to in Ireland, and showed what sessions are supposed to be. I'm inclined to discount the Scoil Eigse sessions which are intended as teaching sessions anyway, and my experience of the pub sessions in Clonmel last year was that most of them were messy - perhaps I just didn't find the good ones.
We went to an open-air informal concert on Sunday afternoon at the Vandeleur Gardens, essentially an informal session run by Michael Tilbrudy. Members of the audience were asked to join in with their instruments or to sing. Not surprisingly, no-one had had thought to bring instruments but some very good Irish singers came up from the audience and did their bits, including one or two excellent sean nos singers. Two of the session players at this concert were a Japanese couple who have been coming to the Mrs Crotty Festival for seceral years. No-one can remember or pronounce their names, so they are generally known as "Paddy" and "Bridget". Both are highly accomplished musicians, Paddy playing the flute and whistle, and Bridget the harp and concertina. Paddy startled everyone by playing a tune on one whistle while simultaneously accompanying it on a second whistle. It never occurred to me that such a feat was possible, but Paddy did it most convincingly.
Other things: our B&B couldn't be faulted. Neither could the quite genuine friendliness of everyone there. Our B&B lent us a couple of bikes for a day, and in the town Square two friendly 10-year old lads came up and offered to purchase them from us. A Garda car appeared in the distance and they evidently decided they had urgent business elsewhere, and disappeared (as I must now, it's getting quite late).
On the Eigse sessions, Trevor, I agree with you completely as these are aimed mainly at youngsters who might be too young for a pub session and also those players who have yet to experience "real" session playing. However, there are usually lots of sessions around the town after the Eigse one varying from the high octane "youth oriented" ones to those consisting of tutors from the course (this year's included people like Brendan McGlinchey, Bobby Gardiner, Oisín MacDiarmada, Micheál Ó Raghhallaigh, Dymphna O'Sullivan, etc). A few of us "the usual suspects" usually aim for something in between and this year we found this in both the Clonmel Arms and the GAA Club. If this is the sort of thing you had in mind, I'll post up details in advance next year (whether it's Ballina or Letterkenny) so you'll know where we are.
Hi Trevor,
I was playing the fiddle near the fireplace. And I agree, getting to the bar was an absolute nightmare. Mind you, when you did eventually get the pints in, they tasted great...
Trevor, it was great to meet you, and you too, David. Nice to see Bigdave and Niall again, too.
The sessions in Buggles were superb. The "anchor" musicians on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoon were Greg Hall (pipes and flute), Sheena Vallely (flute) and Eoin (cocertina) from Lisdoon Varna.
Also there were Dominique Charly (accordeon) and his wife Christine (fiddle) from Bordeaux, and Claire Staunton (accordeon) from Reading.
There were many other musicians coming and going, including 5 of us from thesession.
Many big names in the ITM world were in Kilrush over the weekend, and I can see it developing into a weekend to weekend affair, like the Willie Week.
Mike.
Among the musicians I met at Kilrush, I clean forgot to mention Tony O`Rourke from Melbourne.
What a great banjo player! Some of the Oz members of thesession may know him. A very high standard of musicianship you have there in the antipodes!
Mike
Mrs Crotty weekend, Kilrush
Mrs Crotty weekend, Kilrush
Hello to all sessioneers who made it to Kilrush for the Mrs Crotty weekend, especially Big Dave and Murfbox. Some great tunes and great sessions. The Saturday night in Buggles will stay with me for a long time. Same again next year, God willing ?
# Posted on August 30th 2004 by Niall L
Re: Mrs Crotty weekend, Kilrush
Niall, I was in Buggles the Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Memorable musical experiences - especially Saturday. Saturday in Buggles was also notable in that getting from the musicians' area through to the bar or loo proved to be a major logistical exercise!
I was the middle-aged fiddle player with glasses in the vicinity of Bigdave and Murfbox, probably sitting between them. David (screen-name) was there playing the mandolin most of the time. Were you sitting close to the fireplace near the bar area?
First time I've been to Kilrush - and it certainly won't be the last. My wife was there for the set dancing in the square (the rain held off every day for the dancing), and she's still talking about it. I got to 7 sessions in five days (about 20 hours or so), and it's all still going through my head. We stayed on for a couple of days for sight-seeing (including the wonderful Scattery Island - there's a slide with that name, btw), and visiting friends from Bristol now living in Kilrush.
It's fair to say the sessions in Kilrush were the first "real" sessions I've been to in Ireland, and showed what sessions are supposed to be. I'm inclined to discount the Scoil Eigse sessions which are intended as teaching sessions anyway, and my experience of the pub sessions in Clonmel last year was that most of them were messy - perhaps I just didn't find the good ones.
We went to an open-air informal concert on Sunday afternoon at the Vandeleur Gardens, essentially an informal session run by Michael Tilbrudy. Members of the audience were asked to join in with their instruments or to sing. Not surprisingly, no-one had had thought to bring instruments but some very good Irish singers came up from the audience and did their bits, including one or two excellent sean nos singers. Two of the session players at this concert were a Japanese couple who have been coming to the Mrs Crotty Festival for seceral years. No-one can remember or pronounce their names, so they are generally known as "Paddy" and "Bridget". Both are highly accomplished musicians, Paddy playing the flute and whistle, and Bridget the harp and concertina. Paddy startled everyone by playing a tune on one whistle while simultaneously accompanying it on a second whistle. It never occurred to me that such a feat was possible, but Paddy did it most convincingly.
Other things: our B&B couldn't be faulted. Neither could the quite genuine friendliness of everyone there. Our B&B lent us a couple of bikes for a day, and in the town Square two friendly 10-year old lads came up and offered to purchase them from us. A Garda car appeared in the distance and they evidently decided they had urgent business elsewhere, and disappeared (as I must now, it's getting quite late).
Trevor
# Posted on August 31st 2004 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Mrs Crotty weekend, Kilrush
On the Eigse sessions, Trevor, I agree with you completely as these are aimed mainly at youngsters who might be too young for a pub session and also those players who have yet to experience "real" session playing. However, there are usually lots of sessions around the town after the Eigse one varying from the high octane "youth oriented" ones to those consisting of tutors from the course (this year's included people like Brendan McGlinchey, Bobby Gardiner, Oisín MacDiarmada, Micheál Ó Raghhallaigh, Dymphna O'Sullivan, etc). A few of us "the usual suspects" usually aim for something in between and this year we found this in both the Clonmel Arms and the GAA Club. If this is the sort of thing you had in mind, I'll post up details in advance next year (whether it's Ballina or Letterkenny) so you'll know where we are.
# Posted on August 31st 2004 by Bannerman
Re: Mrs Crotty weekend, Kilrush
Hi Trevor,
I was playing the fiddle near the fireplace. And I agree, getting to the bar was an absolute nightmare. Mind you, when you did eventually get the pints in, they tasted great...
# Posted on August 31st 2004 by Niall L
Re: Mrs Crotty weekend, Kilrush
Trevor, it was great to meet you, and you too, David. Nice to see Bigdave and Niall again, too.
The sessions in Buggles were superb. The "anchor" musicians on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoon were Greg Hall (pipes and flute), Sheena Vallely (flute) and Eoin (cocertina) from Lisdoon Varna.
Also there were Dominique Charly (accordeon) and his wife Christine (fiddle) from Bordeaux, and Claire Staunton (accordeon) from Reading.
There were many other musicians coming and going, including 5 of us from thesession.
Many big names in the ITM world were in Kilrush over the weekend, and I can see it developing into a weekend to weekend affair, like the Willie Week.
Mike.
# Posted on September 1st 2004 by murfbox
Re: Mrs Crotty weekend, Kilrush
Just spotted a typo in the 5th para of my post above. The person running the Vandeleur Gardens concert was Michael Tubridy. Sorry Michael!
Trevor
# Posted on September 1st 2004 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Mrs Crotty weekend, Kilrush
Among the musicians I met at Kilrush, I clean forgot to mention Tony O`Rourke from Melbourne.
What a great banjo player! Some of the Oz members of thesession may know him. A very high standard of musicianship you have there in the antipodes!
Mike
# Posted on September 4th 2004 by murfbox